Publishers Note 08/97

This Month’s Publisher’s Note...

B-sharp, brought to you by the letter "B".

If you thought my ramblings last month were entertaining, you’ll love this month’s column. Here we are, Gloria and I are sitting at a workstation in the back room of Press Enterprise, the nice folks that print our publication, furiously trying to finish this Publisher’s Note so we can go home. It’s 1:05am. It’s been slow around here, we found out, because they were waiting till Midnight to see if UPS was going to strike or not. They did. Instant front-page story. It doesn’t take 190,000 UPS teamsters to get on the cover of MODE.

As a matter of fact, we almost didn’t have a cover this month. It was a rushed month, as usual, and nothing "spectacular" presented itself as cover-worthy. That is, until our One-Tank Getaway crew came back from Bloomsburg last Sunday. If you’re out for a leisurely stroll, Bloomsburg, about an hour and a half from Harrisburg, is a great place to spend a day or a weekend. Gloria and I know all too well, Once a month, Bloomsburg is the center of our universe... it’s where we get our paper printed. But the cool part of the cover is the picture of Bloomsburg University’s Carver Hall. That there picture was taken with MODE’s cute little Kodak digital camera. How’s that for cool. Sure, I had to massage it a little in Photoshop to green up the trees and sharpen up the detail, but all in all it’s a pretty nice cover photo for one taken with a "Is that another one of your gadgets Scot?" piece of publishing equipment.

So, to change gears a little, I want to say how pleased I am with the "Starting Your Own Business" series we’re running. I think this month’s writing is some of our best. I especially liked Philip Wenger’s (Owner of Isaac’s Restaurants,) tips on growing your own business. His suggestion, "Do it because it’s fun and challenging, not because you think you’re going to get rich," is one to live by.

I did have a constructive comment e-mailed to me recently, asking why we don’t go into any real depth with our business articles. Well... honestly... we’re just not that serious. That may seem a little evasive, but it’s quite true. We want our readers to think, pursue, and grow. I believe going into serious detail bores most readers. We like skimming the surface, only touching on the high points of possibly consuming topics. Think of MODE as the "crib notes" of more serious publications. Just read our motto at the top of our masthead on page 4, under Cool Stuff...

While we’re on the topic of digital cameras, (yes we’re still on that topic.) This month marks a milestone for MODE. Every picture was taken with our Kodak DC120. We used no film, no processing, and no prints whatsoever. That’s cool. Just look at the quality of the cover, not to mention our MODE@LARGE pages which have been composed of digital camera pictures since last November. If you spend more than $50 a month in film and processing, call me, I’ll let you play with my Kodak DC50 for a couple of hours... then I’ll sell you one of your own. :-)

Finally, and I know you’ve been waiting patiently for the "finally" part, I want to tell you about our new Candidates For Hire Section. This sections is such a great tool, that if everyone that reads this column starts using it, it’s potential to help Harrisburg businesses is unlimited. Candidates For Hire is a classified column for people with skills to market, people looking for a job. It’s the reverse of your typical help wanted classified. The company personnel director will read the Candidates For Hire section when looking for a new employee instead of wasting potentially huge sums of money placing daily help wanted ads themselves. People looking for a job can spend virtually nothing, (the first two lines of a CFH classified are FREE,) and reach thousands of readers, instead of wasting precious savings on resume preparation, printing and mailing. MODE’s new Candidates For Hire section could become a staple resource for every small business, company and corporation in the greater Harrisburg area. All you have to do is use it. Let me know when it works for you, (maybe I’ll put your name in the paper.) Let me know where it needs improvement. Gloria and I are totally dedicated to helping the "working" and the "want to work" citizens of Harrisburg get the right job quickly and affordably. This new section is for you... USE IT!

Thanks always for your continuing support... 2:17am, done.